Traveling With A Ghost
by BlackMadness
Summary: Ha Ha Ha! Just leave it up to the great Kyuubi no Yoko to find a way to help Naruto with his genjutsu. Finding a great source of Yin chakra in the forest, reaching out from a weakened seal, the Kyuubi stores the source inside of his host. (Post Sasuke Retrieval Arc)
1. Ero-gaki? Redhair Fetish?

**[Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto]**

**_Traveling With A Ghost_**

**_Chapter 1: Ero-gaki? Redhair Fetish?_**

* * *

_[Naruto's P.O.V. - Start]_

I failed…

_"No matter what darkness lies ahead, I will pursue that path… No matter what, I will obtain power!"_

Sasuke…

_"You know what they say, don't you Naruto… When two shinobi are powerful enough… They read each other's thoughts, simply through an exchange of fists. Without ever uttering a single word… Get it. You've always been naive… Naruto. Tell me… Do you know my thoughts? Can you tell what's on my mind?!"_

I thought I could… Sasuke. I really thought I could… But… I Don't know any more… Not a single thing…

_"Just shut up for once… What the hell do you know about it? It's not like you ever had a family in the first place. You were on your own right from the beginning! What makes you think you know anything about it, huh?! I'm suffering now because I **had** those ties. How on earth could you possibly understand what it feels like to lose all that?!"_

Your were right… Sasuke… At that time, I didn't know anything about how you had suffered…

_"I only share one bond… That of hate with my brother. Naruto… Come! Let me break those bonds!"_

But… Now I do… And I _will_ bring you back…

_[Naruto's P.O.V. - End]_

* * *

_[Konohagakure no Sato]_

Inside of a hospital room, where the walls where plain white and not a single decoration in sight, a thirteen year old blonde boy, who went by the name Uzumaki Naruto, was sleeping on a hospital bed as he lightly thrashed around under his covers.

_'Damn light. Damn sun. Go away, I'm trying to sleep here…'_ thought the boy, expecting the lights to dim down. Unfortunately, mother nature didn't care about him, just like the civilians in his village. _'Tch, fine. I'll just pull the blankets over my head.'_

With the light out of the way, the little blonde boy could finally get some-

**Beep… Beep… Beep…**

_'I hate the hospital,'_ he stated in his mind. Looks like technology didn't like him either.

Giving up on his well earned sleep, his mind started to go through the events in his last mission. Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Kiba, Lee… All five of them went on a mission, along with Naruto, to attempt to retrieve Sasuke. Unluckily for them, fortune was not with them.

Although they all were able to overcome their respective opponents, none of them came out unscathed. Especially Choji and Neji, they were both on the verge of death when they were found. Naruto wasn't even sure of their current condition right now. All he could do was hope for the best of them.

_'Damn it!'_ Naruto cursed inside of his head.

Just thinking about his injured teammates dropped his mood significantly. They all did their best on the mission, going as far as to put their lives on the line just for one person. And all that hard work went down the drain, Naruto was unable to subdue the rogue Uchiha.

He blamed himself for the outcome of the mission. He thought because he wasn't strong enough, Sasuke fled from Konoha, only to serve under the guidance of Orochimaru, an S-rank missing-nin from his village.

After pounding himself inside his mind for a few minutes, his thoughts then went to his pink haired teammate and the promise he made with her.

_"I'll bring Sasuke back for sure. **This** is a promise of a life time."_

_'I couldn't keep my promise to her. She's definitely going to hate me,'_ he thought to himself. Just the thought of a depressed Sakura pushed him into panic.

His thinking process then came to a halt when he heard the heart monitor system beeping faster.

_'Alright I need to calm down first… Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale… Forget it. Those beeps are annoying.'_

Grabbing the wire that was was stuck to him and the heart monitor, he yanked it off, only to be slammed by a much, much more annoying screech.

**Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-**

"OKAY! THAT'S TOO DAMN LOUD!"

Thank god this was not the first time he was in a hospital, he was able find the off button in a matter of seconds. Breathing in and out a few more times to get his heart on a steady pace, he sat up using his elbows as support and examined the room he was in.

"Hospital rooms are so plain and boring. Hmm… Maybe I should sneak in here and paint the rooms! Ya! Ya! And I'll use an awesome color, like orange!" Naruto thought out loud, impressing himself in the process.

He then check over his body, seeing that he was bandaged from head-to-toe. Good thing he had the Kyuubi to heal him or he would have probably been out for a lot longer then he was before. Done with his self-examination, he looked around the room once more; he adopted a sad look.

He looked towards the empty table-stand that was under the window.

_'Just like I thought. No flowers, no get well cards, nothing. Sigh… What was I expecting. People could care less about a demon child.'_

"Well, well… you're awake."

Broken out of his thought, he turned his head towards the door and smiled at his visitor.

"Shikamaru!" exclaimed the blonde with a smile.

A few minutes ago, Shikamaru Nara was outside of Choji's hospital room. When he received the news that he was okay, he wandered through the halls of the hospital in order to clear his thoughts. Knowing his blonde haired friend was also admissioned in the hospital, he decided to pay his friend a visit.

While Shikamaru now sat comfortably a chair next to Naruto's bed, he updated him on the health status on their teammates that attempted to retrieve Sasuke.

Hearing how both Choji and Neji were both going to be fine and very alive, gave Naruto relief. Although his uneasiness was not completely extinguished, knowing that his friends would be able to see tomorrow did leave him room to breathe. He was glad that everyone was at least able to avoid the worst possible scenario.

"So, Naruto… What happened to Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked lazily with just a hint of concern.

Seeing the blonde's mood saddened deeply was all he needed to know the answer. The lazy genin couldn't help but feel sorry for his friend.

_'Sakura won't take this any better, will she?'_ the young Nara asked himself. As if the gods were answering his question, the door slid opened showing the current Hokage, Tsunade, and a shocked Sakura. _'...Troublesome. She must have been listening from behind the door.'_

Upon seeing Sakura expression, Naruto panicked a bit, wondering what to say to Sakura. To his dismay, he could not think of any comforting words to say. Dipping his head down in dejection, his eyes fell upon his lap.

"I'm sorry… Sakura."

While his head was still down, Sakura made a weary smile and replied, "Why are you apologizing?"

No response was given. His head still positioned down in shame. Although, she knew she sounded unconvincing, she did her best to keep up her attitude.

With Tsunade following behind her, Sakura finally walked inside the room.

"You look really weird! You're like a mummy, aren't you?" she asked, doing her best to keep her tone from sounding dispirited. It's true that the young kunoichi was depressed from Sasuke's defection, but that doesn't mean that she didn't care about her other teammate's feelings.

"I'm sorry…" the blonde boy repeated in a small, soft tone.

Ignoring his sad demeanor, Sakura walked towards the window, doing the best to uphold the smile she had been wearing for a while.

"Listen, the weather's good today. I opened the curtains, now…" she said, trying to brighten Naruto's mood.

Too bad that it had an opposite effect on him. Naruto started panicking, his eyes widening as he listened to the optimistic Sakura. After realizing what she was trying to do, he felt the urge to ease her. _He_ was the one that was supposed to be supporting Sakura, right? Not the other way around!

"Sakura-chan! I'll definitely keep my promise-" Naruto panicked. "I said it was… A lifelong promise!"

"…It's alright, Naruto…" she said, trying to comfort her teammate.

The boy tilted his head down, letting his spiky hair shadow over his eyes.

"Always… Like I said-" He started to say in a shaky voice. Silence took over for a moment as he gathered all of his strength to finish his sentence. Looking back up, with his usual big, cheesy smile, he continued on, "-I won't go back on my word! Because that's my nindo!"

A few moments of silence passed by before the sound of footsteps heading towards the door was heard. Sakura was at the door. With her back towards Naruto, the pink haired kunoichi started to talk.

"…I'm sorry, Naruto…" Sakura said in a low tone. "I had to make you wait a while, but…" her tone started to pick up; to Naruto her words started to sound reassuring. She, then, turned her head to look over her left shoulder, making eye contact with Naruto, and continued on in a confident voice, "-Next time, we'll do it together!"

With her short speech done, she walked out of the room, shortly followed by Shikamaru. Left alone in the room, Naruto was smiling stupidly after hearing Sakura's determination and Tsunade, who had a smirk on her face from seeing the interaction from the two teammates from Team 7. The next few minutes just consisted of the two blondes consisting of Naruto's health and the verbal mission report. Seeing how Naruto was pretty much in perfect health, Tsunade cleared the boy from the hospital, so he could get some rest.

His trip to his apartment was uneventful as he walked through the village as night was setting in. He'd still receives those scowls from the villager's as he passed though, but he noticed that a few shinobi here and there would occasionally look at him with… respect? He didn't know since he had never seen that look on someone who wasn't Iruka-sensei. Although he did like it.

Finally reaching his apartment, blonde boy stepped inside of his room and he plopped onto his bed, letting his conscious fade away.

**_(~ TWAG ~)_**

_[Naruto's Mindscape: Enter]_

_'Wet… Why am I wet?! I swear I didn't drink anything before I went to bed.'_

Slowly opening his eyes, Naruto sat straight up and noticed the change in scenery. He was not in his old run-down apartment of his; instead, he was in a familiar sewer-like place. Pipes ran parallel from each wall as the sound of constant dripping entered his ear. Turning around, he was faced with the giant golden gate that held the Kyuubi behind it, resting it's head on top of its paws

"What do you want? I'm trying to rest here, if you don't mind?" Naruto asked impatiently.

All fox responded just by opening one of it's eyes as the Kyuubi began talking.

**"Ningen. It seems that you failed to bring back that Uchiha…"**

At the mention of his friend, Naruto scowled deeply at the demon in front of him.

**"Even when I graciously lent you my strength, you still failed to beat him,"** finished the Kyuubi.

"Get to the point! Why the hell did you bring me here!" Naruto yelled with irritation. The blonde knew that the fox was beating around the bush and he did not like that, not one bit.

Usually, the Kyuubi would lash out at Naruto for the disrespectful tone he used. As being simply an embodiment of intense hatred and massive power, it wouldn't be weird if it did so. But, the Kyuubi still held an interested expression.

**"I will say this once and once only,"** the fox said, while it's expression grew into one that held pride and anger. **"The next time you battle that despicable Uchiha, do not lose. I will _not_ tolerate having a host that is weaker then one of those scums!"** it bellowed out, striking the boy with a bit of intimidation.

Naruto turned his back towards it, trying to mask his fear as best as he could.

"Don't worry your little nine tails, fox." Naruto heard the Kyuubi's low growl from behind him. A smirk appeared on his face at his success of agitating the demon fox. "The next time I see Sasuke, I want lose. And I _will_ bring him back to Konoha. By force if I have to"

The Kyuubi just let out a low grunt. Not wanting to stay here any longer, Naruto lifted himself out of his mindscape to resume his sleep.

Now alone in it's host's mindscape, the Kyuubi started to grin at itself.

_**'Damn right, Ningen. You will not lose to that low-life, again. With your new 'power',**_ **shitty genjutsu from that Uchiha or any worthless people won't serve as a problem for you,'** the demon fox glanced at the dark blue chakra that was slowly taking human form. A smirk appeared on it's face as it thought of something. _**'I'll let you get acquainted with your new 'power', Naruto. Heh.'**_

_[Naruto's Mindscape: Exit]_

**_(~ TWAG ~)_**

_[Konoha - Next Morning]_

The sun was rising above Konohagakure, signifying that a night of sleep has passed by. The sunlight shined through Naruto's window as if the sun was telling him to "wake your lazy ass up".

_'...I need thicker curtains,'_ the boy cursed inside of his mind, thrashing inside of his covers.

As he tried reaching out to the side for the edge of his blanket, he came upon a soft bulge that was big enough to fit in his left hand. He didn't know what it was, since he was half awake with his eyes closed, but it didn't matter to him. In fact, he quite liked it. For some reason he compared it with a meat bun. Was he holding a meat bun? The meat bun image was then replaced by an image of a girl's chest.

_'Goddammit, Ero-sennin,'_ Naruto thought to himself. He figured that he was spending too much time with his teacher, which caused him to be rubbed with perverted urges. Unknowingly to himself, Naruto started to stretch out his right hand. Looks like 'fortune' was with him today. _'Oh Kami! I found a another one. YATTA! For some reason, they reminded me of meat buns, but who care?! Not me, dattebayo!'_ he celebrated within himself.

"…Unnn…"

_'Unnn? …Was… was that a moan? Naah, it can't be. I'm-'_

"…Mmnnn… "

Another moan. A soft moan. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and he saw a blurry red figure? Blinking a few times to adjust his vision, Naruto was greeted by a slim, pale-skinned girl with red hair. She was dressed lightly, only wearing a black T-shirt, orange shorts, and standard black shinobi sandals. Naruto realized that she was the foul-mouthed kunoichi that Shikamaru and Temari had beaten.

The boy was very confused, and turned on a little, at the appearance of the girl who Shikamaru said was killed by Temari. But, he then chose to pass it off as a dream.

_'Ohhh, I see. This… is a dream! She's the hot girl that Shikamaru beat… Hmm… Looks like Ero-sennin's perverseness is really rubbing off on me than I thought… heh heh 'rubbing off'. I crack myself up.'_ he thought, inwardly laughing at his own joke. Naruto then proceeded to re-close his eyelids. _'Oh well. There's nothing wrong with being a closet pervert. I am going through puberty. This is normal-'_

**Thwok**

…

"OOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW"

Naruto screamed out in agony as he fell on the floor. He started rolling around in a fetal position, while holding his hands on his crotch.

_'She's real?! Not a dream?! I thought she was dead. SHIT! Mini Naruto hurts soooooooo much!'_

**"Heh heh heh."**

_'What?! That damn demon-fox is laughing at ME?! Wait a minute, do you know why she's here?!'_

**"..."** The Kyuubi gave him no response.

After a few minutes passed by, the pain he felt, dealt to his family jewels, eased up enough for him to stand up. He looked at the girl he woke up with, shivering at the corner of the bed, using the covers as some kind of protection as she held it against herself. _'Holyshit! Is this fuckin' hell?!'_ she thought to herself.

_'Well duhh. She woke up next to a stranger- wait a minute. What was she doing on my bed in the first place?'_

Naruto tilted his head to the side, putting his hand under his chin giving him a thinking pose. of course, nothing sensible came to mind.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing in my bed?" the boy finally decided to ask.

As he was looking straight at her, her face went through different kinds of emotions, showing that she was remember what happened before she woke up. She finished thinking when her face finally settled for a scowl. Uh-oh. Not good.

_'She'll get wrinkles on her pretty face.'_

Naruto quickly cursed at himself for thinking like that Ero-sennin.

"You, what am I doing here?" she asked while pointing a finger at him. "If you saved because you think you could get any information on Orochimaru out of me, then you shit outta luck. I don't have any useful shit on that pedophile."

"Umm, I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about," He said in confusion. Naruto did _not_ understand the situation. So, He asked her a question. A really dumb one. "Didn't you… I don't know… sneak… in… here?"

"What the fuck?! Like hell I would! Who the fuck would want to crawl back towards enemy territory?! Especially a sissy ass tree hugger!" she said in a loud, harsh tone. But then she had a look of realization as she examined herself. "Wait a god damn minute. How come I'm not dead? That Suna-bitch hit me with her fucking fan and I was buried under tons of fucking trees." She then turned her head towards the blonde, unfortunately she resumed scowling at him. "Did you save me?"

Before Naruto could have opened his mouth, the red haired girl body started to become transparent and she gave off a dark blue glow. Within moments, she transformed into something that looked like plasma and she started to get… sucked into Naruto's seal?!

_'I knew the Kyuubi had something to do with her!'_

Naruto jumped onto his bed again and slowly started to enter his mindscape again.

_**(~ TWAG ~)**_

_[Naruto's Mindscape: Enter]_

"God damn fox," Naruto grumbled as he started to sit up again inside the sewer.

**"Ningen,"** a demonic voice called out. I turned myself around as I got up and made my way towards the Kyuubi.

Stopping a few feet from the gate, the Sound kunoichi was sitting up on the ground to Naruto's left. Looking down at her, he noticed that she was trembling much greater than when she woke up. Can't blame her, can you? She was sitting right in front of the Kyuubi no Yoko. One of the nine terrifying Tailed-Beasts.

As soon as she noticed the presence of Naruto standing next to her, she quickly latched on to his left leg tightly, never leaving her eyes off the demon-fox.

Naruto paid no reaction to this as he glared at the Kyuubi.

"Alright. Start talking furball. Tell-"

**"Silence! You will address me with respect, Ningen!"** the Kyuubi demanded as Naruto felt it's huge killing intent weighing down on me.

"Fine. Kyuubi no Yoko, your evilness," he replied sarcastically. "Why's this girl here? What are you planning?"

Although feeling the Kyuubi's killing intent scared him shitless, Naruto refused to address him with proper respect. Kyuubi decided to ignore the sarcasm, not wanting to waste any time.

**"The reason is simple, Ningen. The female is here to cover one of your weaknesses. Genjutsu."**

"Wait! Wait wait wait wait. First of all, how is she alive? Shikamaru told me that she was dead," Naruto asked, interrupting the fox. The redhead was wondering the same thing, although she was too scared of the Kyuubi to voice it. She didn't want to take any chances of displeasing something with power that could definitely maul Orochimaru.

The Kyuubi growled at the blonde for interrupting it, but made no further hostility, since it would be useless to attack him. He was imprisoned inside Naruto's body after all.

**"She is dead."**

Kyuubi seemed satisfied at the faces the two humans were making in front of it. They had their eyes almost bulge out in shock. The Kyuubi actually had to hold back a chuckle as it waited for them to recover.

"B-B-Bu-But-"

Seeing it's host unable to question itself, the fox decided to answer Naruto's question, or what would have been his question.

**"I might as well explain the whole story. After your little disagreement with the Uchiha, I felt an unusual amount of Yin chakra in the forest. Your seal was weakened since you tapped into my chakra, so as your Human-sensei was hauling you back to the village, I reached out towards the source of the Yin chakra and dragged it inside of your seal. As you can see now, the female next to you would be that source."**

Moments passed by, the fox deemed it necessary for the two humans to slowly digest the information. 'They were inferior to itself' the fox presumed. After a long time of silence, the red haired kunoichi decided to speak for once.

"S-S-So, a-are you saying that… I'm just chakra… with it's own… consciousness?" she questioned the fox, scared at what seemed to be true to her.

**"That would seem to be the case…"**

Fearing that her suspicions were true, thoughts started to rush through her brain. She couldn't help but to question here on existence at that moment.

A grin surfaced upon the fox's face, as it decided to continue.

**"...under normal circumstances."**

The girl thoughts immediately stopped.

"W-What-? What the hell are you saying?" asked the girl as her fear of the Kyuubi seems to be slowly washing away from her. The fox was couldn't help but feel truly amused, even if it was only a little. Naruto, himself, chose to stay quiet, since he was really interested with their exchange.

**"You are much more than chakra with a conscious, Ningen. You are more like a soul without a body."**

Yet again, both humans were shocked at what the Kyuubi was implying.

"You don't mean…" she trailed off as her head started to dip down.

**"Yes. I mean, not only did I drag your chakra inside this seal, your soul, itself, is trapped here as well,"** even though the Kyuubi had an interested look on it's face inside it's head, the fox was grinning madly as it thought about how the redhead in front of it would react negatively. Naruto had similar thoughts to the fox. He wondered how he would feel if he was in the girl's position.

But to both their surprise, she had a grin on her face. Not a front but an actual, genuine grin.

_**'How unamusing,'**_ the Kyuubi thought to itself. The fox thought that she would easily be brought to despair or at least be angry with it. Why would she be happy to be sealed inside of a human? Kyuubi could not comprehend.

Naruto had similar thoughts. He thought that she would lash out and attempt to kill the Kyuubi. It would have been futile, obviously, but that didn't look like it would stop her.

She lifted her head back up, greeting the demon and it's host with a pleasant smile.

_'Hmm… ?'_ Naruto thought to himself. He felt his cheeks heat up, slightly. Was just the girl's smile cute enough to get a reaction out of himself? But she wasn't Sakura-chan! He closed his eyes and tried to focus on his heart beat. It didn't beat irregularly. Must have been a fluke.

**"Why are you smiling?"** the Kyuubi finally decided to ask in a displeased voice.

Her smile then turned into a smirk.

"Heh. Did you actually think that I would hate this? Hell the FUCK no! This is probably the best thing that had ever happened to me in my fourteen years of living a shitty-ass life. Way better than being with that little boy loving queef, that's for damn sure," she stated. "Anything else I need to know?"

Another smirk crossed the fox's face. She would definitely hate this, the fox was thinking.

**"There is. While you're outside this Ningen's body, you will be unable to stay more than ten feet away from him."**

_'What?'_ thought to Naruto. His reaction was well received by the Kyuubi. When the fox turned it's eye to see the redhead, it sighed on the inside as she showed a knowing expression.

"Ya, I figured that. Anything else."

**"...No. There is nothing else,"** the Kyuubi said, seeing no use in getting a good reaction from her. **"Now, leave from my presence."**

With that said, Naruto and the kunoichi both felt there consciousness being pulled out of the blonde's mindscape.

The Kyuubi was now by itself, gazing at the spot where the kunoichi stood only a mere few seconds ago.

**"She didn't press on the matter on being the cover to Naruto's weakness,"** the Kyuubi thought out loud. **"She must have understood that she is bound to him 'till death,"** it muttered. **"Those two can figure out the rest for themselves, although Naruto should figure that out soon, if he doesn't want to feel other kind of gazes."**

Pleased at being able to at least make Naruto miserable, the fox decided to go back to sleep.

_[Naruto's Mindscape: Exit]_

**_(~ TWAG ~)_**

Naruto's eyes started to flicker open and his sight was instantly greeted by the sunlight. Looking at the sun through the window on his left, his internal clock told him that he was inside of his mindscape for a good thirty minutes. Turning to the right, he saw the red headed girl next to him, sitting on the edge of the bed, slouching over a little.

Naruto remembered that he was supposed to see Tsunade about something today.

"So…" Naruto did not know her name. "Um, sorry. What's your name?"

"And you're just asking that now?" she said in a scoffing manor.

_'Well, It's not like you asked for mine,'_ the blonde boy boy thought to himself. He chose to not voice his thought since he heard from Shikamaru that "very troublesome". To Naruto, that was the first time he heard Shikamaru use an adjective in front of his favorite word, so that meant it must be true.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Konoha's next Hokage. Nice to meet you," he said holding out his hand for a handshake and a wide grin on his face.

"Next Hokage? A shitface like you? Hah! Saying that you're going to be Hokage, is like saying Orochimaru hate's little boys," she stated to the blonde.

She noticed that he had a confused expression. She wanted to to say what she meant bluntly to the boy, but decided against it. Whether she had a choice or not, she was forever bound to Naruto. The kunoichi didn't want to start her new… life? Sure, why not? She didn't want to start her new life on a bad note. Most of the worries and unpleasant feelings she had pretty much ended with her death.

Deciding to just greet the boy, she extended her arm to shake his in return. "Tayuya. Remember that, Ero-gaki."

Naruto froze promptly after hearing what she had called him.

"…Um… Tayuya? Wh-What was that? I don't think I heard you right?" he asked with a weak and shaky voice.

She smirked when she saw the response they boy in front of her had let out. A few insults and a bit of teasing wouldn't kill the kid, right? His body was strong enough to seal a Tailed-Beast in and she knew, from working under Orochimaru, that a Jinchuuriki would usually live hard lives. If all the shit he had taken from the villagers didn't drive him to be an… Uchiha, then there was pretty much nothing in the world that would.

"I called you _Ero-gaki_," Tayuya answered with conviction.

"W-W-Why that name?! I'm not a pervert!" retorted Naruto.

"Hmm… Is that so?"

Naruto nodded immediately, which caused Tayuya to give a 'playful' smirk.

"Alright then. How about you tell me why you were groping me this morning? It looked like you were _really_ enjoying it," she said as she tried to suppress a red tint of embarrassment.

_'Damn!'_ Naruto cursed._ 'It's because of that damn pervert of a teacher that I ended up doing that.'_ He was about to make up an excuse until he was stopped by a tap on his window.

Turning their heads towards the window, they saw a man with long, spiky hair that leaned towards his left side. He wore a face mask that hid half of his face and he had a forehead protector that covered his left eye.

Naruto walked towards the window and opened it for the Jounin known as Hatake Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, did you need something?"

"Not me. Hokage-sama ordered me to bring you to her office."

Naruto's eyes widened. He had forget that he was supposed to meet her a long time ago. Almost two hours, in fact.

_'C'mon, Ero-sennin was one thing, but now Kakashi-sensei's habits? Just great.'_ Naruto jumped through the window, next to his sensei, and turned around to look back into the room. "Let's go, Tayuya-chan."

The redhead would have normally lashed out at the boy for adding "-chan" to her name, but she couldn't. She was too busy trying to hold down her laughter when she caught the look of disbelief on the Jounin shinobi's face.

"Um, Naruto? You do know, no one is there, right?" asked Kakashi.

"Ah! Of course there isn't. I'm just kinda tired still. Heh heh," Naruto said as he flimsy laughed. "Well then, let's get to it!"

Naruto started to jump from roof to roof towards the Hokage's office with Tayuya following close to him, although no one could see her.

Kakashi was still planted outside of Naruto's window, worried for his Genin-student. _'Losing Sasuke must have forced Naruto to create an imaginary friend for himself to ease his pain,'_ Kakashi thought sadly to himself. _'Hmm… Tayuya… I'm certain that she was one of Orochimaru's henchmen who helped Sasuke escape. From Shikamaru's report, she was killed by Temari-san,'_ Kakashi wondered within his head before coming to a conclusion. _'Redhair fetish, just like your father, Minato-sensei, huh? Heh heh.'_

With his thoughts done, Kakashi finally decided to make his way towards the Hokage's office.

* * *

**[AN]:** First chapter, done!

I can't believe I'm actually writing this story. The idea just popped up suddenly when I was reading the second part of the epilogue to the story **Tasogare Otome x Amnesia**(Dusk Maiden of Amnesia). Yup, a spontaneous story.

If your wondering why I kept referring to Kyuubi as "it" instead of "he" or "she" is because I'm debating on whether to make the _focused_ pairing **Naruto/Tayuya** or **Naruto/Tayuya/(Fem)Kyuubi**

One last thing before I go. I do plan to include a few Filler Arcs.

Hopefully, you guys enjoyed this chapter. Later!


	2. Kyuubi in the Mindscape

**[Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto]**

_**Traveling With A Ghost**_

_**Chapter 2: Kyuubi In The Mindscape**_

* * *

About a minute during their trip to the Hokage's office, Naruto decided to start a conversation with Tayuya to clear the the silence that felt dull, to him at least. He remembered how he and the rest of Team 7 introduced themselves. The thought of Team 7 brought a slight pang feeling around his chest, he quickly waved it off.

"So… Tayuya-chan…" Naruto trailed off, gaining a displeasing grunt from the redhead, jumping roof-to-roof, besides him on the right side. It seems she did not like the "-chan" suffix.

Knowing he had her attention, he continued on.

"Since we're going to be with each other for a looooong time," Naruto said, stressing out the word 'long,' emphasizing the amount of time that they would be spending together. "How about we get to know each other better. Let's start with introductions." Naruto glanced at Tayuya from the side as they hopped from house to house. "Alright, I'll go first! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, especially the ramen from Ichiraku's Ramen shop. I dislike the three minutes you have to wait after you pour in the boiling water. My hobbies are eating ramen and watering flowers. My dream… is to become the next Hokage!"

Finished with his introduction he glanced to the right, where Tayuya was at. She noticed his gaze on her, expecting her to introduce herself. Although it was pointless to her, she did so any way. She did want to make a better 'life' out of this opportunity.

They quickly landing on a building that was right in front of the Hokage's office.

As she opened her mouth, in an attempt to introduce herself, a sharp pain coursed through her head, making her stop on a building. She crouched and clutched her head in a futile effort to ease the pain.

A scene flashed before her. Tayuya saw a little boy, about seven years of age, walking through a dirt road that was outlined by shops and houses alike.

As she watched the boy from an overhead view, a few feet above him, she noticed the resemblances the boy had with the one she was bound to. Specifically, she noticed the blonde spiky hair that covered the top of his head, along with the three black whisker marks that were placed on each of the boy's cheeks.

_'Is that… the perverted brat?'_ Tayuya asked, although it sounded more like a statement.

As she followed the boy on his walk, she couldn't help but gain a healthy curiosity as she observed the way the villagers treated the boy. Pretty much every villager that was within the eye-view of the blonde would stay as far as possible from the boy. Most of them had facial expressions of disgust and animosity. Others would just ignore his presence as if he was just a ghost.

The few people who had kids would just hide their kin from the boy's line of sight, while others would just demand their child to not socialize with the blonde boy.

Whispers of "the demon's reincarnation" and "demon scum" would soon flood Tayuya's ears.

She found it odd that the boy was loathed with in his own village.

Tayuya might of known about Naruto being a Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi, but she had never knew how he was treated. She thought that the blonde would be worshiped within the village since he was the their 'ultimate weapon.' He had power that could make all the other villages bow down to Konoha. It only made sense to her.

Despite having information on Naruto and the Kyuubi, Orochimaru withheld information on the village's treatment towards the blonde Jinchuuriki. Not that they need to know though.

Soon enough, she was back to reality. She felt and examined her body to ensure herself that she was out of her dream-like state. She glanced over towards Naruto on her left and saw that he also went through a trance.

He shook his head and asked, "So, your introduction, Tayuya-chan…"

He trailed off as she sent a glare at the boy. She sighed and admitted defeat to herself.

"Fine," she as they both finally landed in front of the building that had the Hokage's office located within it. As they started to walk towards the entrance, Tayuya continued talking, "Tayuya. I don't have a surname. I like to play my flute. I dislike…" She began to trail off, as if she was rethinking how she wanted to word her sentence.

Her usual frown that she seemed to always wear, soon turned into a hostile scowl. She gritted her teeth tightly shut, while she did the same thing with her clenched fist.

"The person I hate is… _Orochimaru_," Tayuya stated, hissing out the name of the Snake-sannin with much venom. "I don't really have a dream… but something more along the lines of an aspiration…"

Naruto took that as the end of her introduction. He did not want her to recall any more memories that would put her in a distasteful mood, but from what he could conclude that it had something to do with the person who killed her parents…

Realization soon hit the blonde. She wanted revenge. She had similar goals as Sasuke.

For some reason, Naruto felt a fire of determination light up within him. The desire to help her quell her bloodthirsty desires of vengeance.

Although Tayuya was no Sasuke, she still seemed to be in the same predicament as his 'best friend.' And that was all he need to know about her in order for him to meddle himself into her past problems.

Besides, it's not like she had anywhere to run off to; She was bound to him for life.

They soon entered the building and walked right pass the secretary. Normally, she would stop anyone that was trying to go see the Godaime without permission. But seeing how he was the Hokage's favorite little blonde ninja, she waved him off.

**_( ~ TWAG ~ )_**

Hatake Kakashi, or as the whole Elemental Nations knew him liked to call him, 'Kakashi of the Sharingan,' was a Jounin shinobi who was famed for being the only Sharingan wielder that was not an Uchiha. 'Copy Ninja Kakashi' was another name he was nicked by other ninjas due to a rumor that he had copied a thousand techniques with his Sharingan.

Besides his doujutsu, he was also well-known for being one of Konoha's top ninja.

All-in-all, the bottomline is that Kakashi was someone that offered great skills and was loyal to his village. Even now, as he was hopping from house to house in the the direction of the Hokage's office, he moved with grace and in at a steady pace.

His Hokage wanted him present for the meeting and he would deliver-

"Meooooooow."

Stopping at a building that was positioned directly in front of his destination. He looked down to the spot where the noise came from.

A black cat was crossing his path.

He now eyed his opponent with a calculative gaze. Hundreds of scenarios played through his head, until he picked when that was most suitable.

Being a Jounin veteran in the world of ninjas, he would surely pick the best option that would have the best outcome.

"Oh, well. I wouldn't want bad luck to disturb me on any future missions."

He turned his back towards the Hokage's office and in one kick, he was heading in the opposite direction that his presence was needed at.

"Guess I gotta go all the way around."

That's Kakashi for ya...

**_( ~ TWAG ~ )_**

A good ten minutes have passed since Naruto and Tayuya had left the blonde's apartment. They had finally arrived inside the office where the Hokage would have to spend most of her time.

"Ho-"

_'Don't say it.'_

"-ly-"

_'Don't say it.'_

"-Shit!"

_'She's gonna say it.'_

"Those tits are fucking HUUUUUGE!" Tayuya yelled out, while pointing at the Hokage, who was unaware of her presence. "I mean look at those water bags! They're, like, way bigger than "fatso" Jirobo's! What the fuck is her secret?! Watermelon implants?!"

Currently, standing in front of the desk that was occupied by the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, was an agitated Naruto. Tsunade glared at the blonde shinobi in front of her. She was wondering why he was looking to the left of her, seeing that no one was beside her. She, also, noticed that he was sweating quite a bit with a nervous look on his face.

The reason he was feeling this way was because of his new… 'tenant'? Her soul was trapped inside of Naruto, so that would be somewhat accurate.

Tayuya was making it hard for the blonde boy to give his full focus to the Hokage. Eyeing Tsunade's left side, where the red haired ghost was currently at, he watched her flip out about the Hokage's breast size.

He watched Tayuya compare her breasts to Tsunade's. A few moment's later, she stood in a thinking pose, obviously she was contemplating about the Hokage's 'deadly weapon'. A lightbulb, soon, appeared above her head, signalling that she was out of her thoughts. She weaved her hands into three hand seals, coming to a stop when she had the ram seal. A puff of smoke surrounded the red haired kunoichi, until quickly dissipating away, leaving another Tsunade there.

_'**Henge no Jutsu** **(**Transformation Technique**)**? What in the name of God is she doing?'_ Naruto thought as he kept his gaze on her. While he was doing this, he did not notice the fixed look that the Hokage was giving him.

Tayuya gazed at her chest as she hopped up and down, fascinated at the weight of the Hokage's breasts. She then started to grope herself. This caught Naruto a little off guard as a red tint crossed his face for a bit. He closed his eyes to fight back the blush that was surfacing on his cheeks for a few moments, only to open them up to see that Tayuya's **Henge** form was measuring her bust size.

"106 centimeters! Holy fuck!" she yelled. "Hmm… I should weigh these babies." Tayuya wondered as she began squeezing her breasts together.

Deciding that it would be best to stop her overreaction for his well-being, he let out a loud cough.

Tayuya turned around and found that the blonde boy was giving her a hard glare. She sheepishly smiled at him and walked over to stand next to him, undoing the transformation in the process.

Finally gaining the redhead's attention, Naruto fixed his eyes towards Tsunade, only to find her staring at him with a concerned look.

"Naruto, are you sick? That cough sounded nasty," Tsunade asked.

Naruto chuckled nervously, while Tayuya snickered at his discomfort.

"No, it was nothing, Baa-chan. Just clearing my throat."

"What's wrong? Got the Uchiha's cum stuck in there?" Tayuya asked jokingly.

A tick mark appeared on the side of his head as he clenched his teeth and fists tightly. The only thing stopping him from pummeling her, is the fact that his reputation would worsen if people saw him arguing with thin air, they would most likely assume that he would be talking to demons. The shinobi's that knew him would probably think he would be going insane from the loss of Sasuke. It did kind of piss him off that they thought that he was weak-minded.

**"In her defence, you and that Uchiha were each other's first kiss,"** replied the Kyuubi, deep within the blonde's head.

_'SHUT UP! I don't want to remember something that disgusting.'_

"Naruto!"

Hai!" he shouted.

Finally seeing that she got his attention, Tsunade motioned her hand at the window behind her.

A figure appeared from the window. Naruto recognized him as the man who temporarily taught him before the Chunin Exams. The tall man with white spiky hair that reached his lower back with shoulder length bangs was known as Jiraiya, one of the Three Legendary Shinobi…

Or, if you were Naruto, you would know him as Ero-sennin.

"Hmm? What's Ero-sennin doing here, Baa-chan?" Naruto asked, not noticing the tick marks appearing on both of their heads.

Tayuya chuckled in amusement at the displeasure that the two older shinobi had gotten from their nickname. Though she was still amazed that Naruto had the balls to be informal with two renowned ninjas and one of them just happened to be the Hokage.

Ignoring the name that Naruto had called her, Tsunade decided to move forward with their meeting.

"Well, Naruto, Jiraiya here has something he wants to ask you..." the Hokage said, while motioning for Jiraiya to pick up where she left on.

"Ahh, yes. That's right kid. I'm here to offer you a chance to train under me, for two years. What do say say?" the Toad Sage asked bluntly.

Naruto's eyes widened, dumbstruck by the idea of having shinobi of Jiraiya's caliber, whose skills could very well be at Kage level, be his mentor… even if he was the world's biggest pervert.

Tayuya reacted the same way, only that she had both her eyes and mouth opened wide. Even though she did technically train under Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Shinobi just like Jiraiya, he mentored her in a more indirect way.

Instead of supervising her training like any decent teacher, Orochimaru would just give her a list of light exercise to do to keep her in average health and an old textbook on genjutsu. If she wasn't a natural at genjutsu, she would have probably been dead by now. This would be the only thing that Tayuya would ever thank God for… when she was alive.

From this point on, everything would be thanks to Naruto and the Kyuubi

"I'll do it! I'll do it! When I come back, I'll be strong enough to bring Sasuke back and kick those Akatsuki idiots, dattebayo!"

Hearing the wish of Naruto wanting to still bring Sasuke back brought a frown on the two older shinobi's faces.

Tayuya had reacted differently. She shot Naruto a fierce scowl.

_'Are you fucking kidding me?! After almost killing your sorry ass, you're still gonna go after that jail bait?! You've, either, got to be the biggest retard that had ever been born or a total cock loving faggot, seriously! Oh right, I forgot that you **are** one of those tree-fucking hippies,'_ thought the ticked off redhead.

Although it was amusing to hear her rant on about the blonde, the Kyuubi decided to explain things to her about Naruto. Even if Naruto had Tayuya's chakra and soul within himself, he needed to be on good terms with the kunoichi if the blonde wanted to use genjutsu. While Naruto was busy celebrating, Tayuya was pulled into the Eight Trigrams seal on the blonde boy's stomach.

**_( ~ TWAG ~ )_**

_[Naruto's Mindscape: Enter]_

"What. The. Fuck."

These were the first three words that came out of the redhead's mouth when she saw the location she was in. What used to be a boiler room with leaky pipes turned into… a bipolar-like surrounding. The place that inhibit the Kyuubi no Yoko was split in thirds, only with the left and right side being equal in length, while the middle was narrow.

To the right of Tayuya, the area to the right had a single house with a red roof placed in the middle of a green plane. The place was surrounded by tall cliff that had water streaming down from it. In the cloudless sky, above the cliff, a sun was well-placed there, leaving no shadows within the area.

To the left, there were rocks and and broken up asphalt laying on the dirt ground. This side was also surrounded by the same water-leaking cliff that was on the right side, but with the only difference being the huge shallow cave-in on the side. Inside the cave, piles of blood stained bones, human and animals alike, were piled into a pyramid shaped structure. A nine-pointed golden crown was positioned at the very top. The kanji for "King" ( _**王** _) was engraved in black on the middle point.

Above this area, whether it was a sun or a moon was unknown as giant storm clouds cover this side of the sky. Flashes of light and rumbles of thunder could occasionally be heard.

In the middle of both of these environments, a narrow stone pathway split them evenly apart.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Tayuya started to walk towards whatever the pathway lead to. Within a few minutes, she came upon a staircases that directed them up a small mountain.

She quickly examined the mountain.

It was steep, with many rigid spikes protruding in all directions. At the top, she could see something that resembled a palace.

Seeing how this was just a Naruto's mindscape, she started to ascend the mountain, determined to find out what was in it. Although if she had to guess, she would assume the Kyuubi was up there. That would not really be a shock to anyone.

Finally reaching the peak of the miniature mountain, Tayuya gazed at the small palace that was positioned in front of her. Four huge, red torii gates surrounded the building.

Walking through the huge door that was positioned at the middle of the structure, she walked into a huge room with dimmed lighting. Four giant pillars circled a single thrown. Although the area where the throne stood was pitch black, Tayuya was able to make out the outlining of a normal size fox that had a single tail.

Tayuya didn't know why the Kyuubi was like this, but without it's overbearing figure, she naturally spoke to it in an informal tone.

"Well well well, look what we… got… here…" Her words died in her mouth as two red malicious eyes with slit pupils appeared in the dark, hovering over the fox silhouette.

She could feel the air around her thicken as it became harder for her to breathe. Tayuya felt oppressed from the being in front of her. Like her existence was insignificant to the fox laying on the throne.

The Kyuubi decided to speak, once it saw the kunoichi becoming subdued.

**"Female,"** the Kyuubi said, gaining the redhead's attention. **"My host seems like an idiot, but he means well."** The fox glanced at the girl with a dumbfounded look etched on her face. **"Although I am an embodiment of hatred and negativity, that does not mean I am ignorant to those who share the same emotions as me. That, additionally, is one of the reasons I took in your soul."**

Looking back at the redhaired girl, the puzzled expression she wore told it that she was having a hard time believing the fox's words. How would this demonic fox know what she felt.

Sensing her uneasiness and confusion, the Kyuubi decided to answer her unasked question.

**"The reason how I know of your emotions? The answer is simple. You were in my grasp, my chakra to be exact, as I was drawing your soul into my see, my chakra has a few special traits and when of them happens to be sensing a being emotions."**

Tayuya nodded at the Kyuubi's response.

**"Now… As I was saying before, I should in form you that… my jailer's upbringings were not as pleasant as you seem to make them out to be."**

This rose an eyebrow from the kunoichi standing a few meters from the throne.

Tayuya assumed that every person from Konoha was raised inside of a loving family… Maybe not everyone. She knew Orochimaru was from Konoha, so at least most ninjas from that village would have had a joyful childhood.

Her mind, soon derailed from the main topic and wandered on to the scene she saw quite awhile ago. She knew that it was Naruto she was observing and she did find it questionable on how he was treated-

Did the Kyuubi have anything to do with the scene? If it did, she wanted to know if Naruto saw her past as well.

"Hey, Kyuubi, Did you have anything to do with those scenes that me and that kid experienced?"

The Kyuubi snarled at the redhead for her informal tone, effectively instilling fear into the kunoichi, but did nothing else beyond that. It knew humans would never understand greatness as itself

A brief pause went on between the two. Tayuya waited anxiously, tapping her feet on the ground, while the Kyuubi took it's time to think.

**"No. I don't believe I had caused anything to trigger such an effect,"** the fox replied blandly.

A sigh escaped the girls lips, while the Kyuubi continued to speak.

**"Back to the main topic, I would like to ask you to be more… gentle with him."**

The Kyuubi couldn't help, but chuckle at the stupify look Tayuya had, plastered on her face.

Tayuya, herself, was also doing her best to process words the fox spoke. This demon in front of her had truly requested something from a mere mortal. Not only that, but it had requested something that would actually benefit it's jailor that kept itself at bay.

"W-why would you want something like that?" she asked honestly.

**"That would simply lead to the second reason I had confined you inside the seal. With you in here… Naruto would have someone to confide to. It is also a benefit that since you are projected as a ghost that only Naruto can hear, you won't be able to expose his past to any others."**

Tayuya just nodded. She did not like being alone around the Kyuubi for too long, so she decided to ask questions later, when Naruto would at least be around.

**"_Sigh_… I shall let you or Naruto know when there is more information that I would be willingly to give out. Now, leave from my presence."**

Feeling a pull on her conscious, Tayuya found herself exiting the mindscape.

A few second passed before the Kyuubi decided to get to work. Without uttering a word or making any movements, the throne, that the Kyuubi was currently resting at, started to descend.

A minute later and the throne was finally at it's destination. The place that it was at was about fifty feet under the palace, positioned in the middle of the mountain.

Getting up from the throne, the fox began to walk a path that was created by two rocky walls. Moments later and the Kyuubi walked through a human sized torii that lead to a chamber-like room.

The room was dome shaped, the diameter of the room measured up to fifty feet.

In the middle of the dome floated a blue spherical orb, that was the size of a bowling ball. This would be Naruto's soul. The core of the mountain. Two chains were attached to it and they were opposite in positions.

One chain held an orb that looked exactly like Naruto's. That would be Tayuya's soul, and it was also the same for any other human.

On the other chain, a dark red-orange orb, also the size of a bowling ball, hovered in midair. It gave off a demonic aura and it would occasionally leak out some chakra.

As the Kyuubi walked towards Tayuya's soul, it started to talk out loud to itself.

**"So, it seems that by merging their souls together, they'll receive each other's memories. Things could play out much more smoothly than planned, it seems."**

Of course, the Kyuubi was referring to the scene that both, Tayuya and Naruto, experienced. Before the fox pulled Tayuya into the newly formed mindscape, it was experimenting with their souls. Being new to soul merging, the Kyuubi took both, Naruto's and Tayuya's, souls to see if they would naturally fuse together.

It's theory was proven wrong. When both souls touched each other for the slightest second, a huge surge of power erupted from the contact. In the end, the Kyuubi had to find another way to fuse them.

Indeed, blending their souls together did prove to be difficult, the Kyuubi found out that it would be able to improve their relationship by bashing their souls together.

Although, Naruto's and Tayuya's relationship would work out better if they both just told one another their problems, if things get to a standstill, the fox would definately resort to extreme measures.

Before the Kyuubi could get back to it's experimenting, another thought popped into the fox's head. Reaching into it's single tail, the fox pulled out a comic.

The cover had a busty woman, dressed in a witch outfit, sitting on a giant pumpkin. In front of the woman, stood a teenage girl, who had a pair of blonde twin-tails. The girl was holding a scythe that had a black and red blade. The blade, itself, had a white haired teenage boy emerge from it showing only the upper half of his body.

**"I wonder if they would be able to use Soul Resonance in the future… Oh, well. I'll do experiment on that at a later date."**

_[Naruto's Mindscape: Exit]_


End file.
